The Heavenly Bastille
by exaenae
Summary: Upon realizing his best friend is missing, Alexander Maurer starts investigating her disappearance. As more information comes to light, he realizes that she isn't the only person to vanish, and that all the disappearances seem to be linked.
1. The Heavenly Bastille

**Chapter 1 - The Heavenly Bastille**

"I'm telling you Alex, people keep disappearing. From all over the city, people are vanishing, and it's all connected to this one specific building," she said, wandering around the room. "Public records say that it's a residential building, but there isn't a single person registered as living there. I've been staking out the building on and off for a few weeks now, and every so often, usually in the dead of night, someone's brought there, always accompanied by at least two people, and then they're never seen again."

"People mysteriously disappearing, being taken away in the middle of the night," Alex said in reply "I think you're trying to make your life seem more interesting than it actually is."

"I'm telling you, something's going on here," she continued, completely convinced of her theory's truthfulness. "Strangest thing is, once these people go missing, nobody seems to remember them. Friends and colleagues completely forget that they ever existed, only their closest relatives can somewhat remember them, but they're too afraid to ask what happened. On top of that, the missing person is wiped from all public records. A few days ago, I went to a restaurant one of the missing people worked in, and asked about her. They just looked at me like I was insane."

She stopped pacing back and forth, and looked at Alex, who was staring at her with a blank expression, unsure of what to think about his friend's seemingly mad ramblings.

"So are you right now, actually."

"No, I just–" Alex mumbled, then decided to stop talking before he dug himself into a hole.

"You just what?"

"How did you find any of this out, anyways?" he dodged her question.

"A family member contacted the newspaper I work for, and begged for us to investigate into it," she explained. "A couple of people had a quick look, but since they couldn't find any proof that the missing person even existed, they just ignored the tip and assumed that the caller had gone crazy or something."

"But you just couldn't settle for that," Alex said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Of course I couldn't. Real or fake, this person sounded way too distressed for me to ignore them, and after I investigated further, some parts of their story did turn out to be true, because I guess whoever is covering up the disappearances got sloppy."

"So, why are you telling me this?"

"Well, because you asked."

"No, I mean, why are you telling me this entire story?"

"Well, I want to investigate this further, I need to go into that building."

"Don't say what I think you're about to say," Alex mumbled.

"And I was hoping you might be able to help me," she finished.

Alex stared into her bright green eyes, as she eagerly awaited his response.

"Absolutely not."

"Huh?" she tilted her head, slightly surprised at the response. "Why not?"

"Are you expecting me to go charging headfirst into blatant danger? You just told me that people are going missing, and that it's all tied to that place."

"Come on, aren't you the least bit curious?"

"Admittedly, I am. But I'm not going to go and risk my life for the sake of sating my curiosity."

"You're the most boring person alive."

"I'd rather be boring than vanish off the face of the earth," Alex said.

"Fine, whatever," she pouted. "But don't think that you can change my mind about going."

"There's a reason I haven't tried," Alex said. "I know how stubborn you are."

He couldn't help but be worried, but his friend giggled as soon as she heard his comment. She didn't seem worried at all.

"Just… be careful, alright?"

"Careful is my middle name," she replied with a goofy, infectious smile on her face, and Alex couldn't help but laugh as well. She ruffled his hair, and headed for the exit of his room.

"Stay boring," she winked at Alex, and headed downstairs, forgetting to close the door behind her. Just as she was about to leave the house, she noticed a stack of post-it notes on the kitchen table, and came up with an idea.

"Do you have any pens?" she asked Alex, who she realized was now walking around his room, trying to find something or other.

"There's a few on the fridge!" he shouted, but the very end of his sentence was drowned out by the sound of a closing drawer.

"Why does he keep pens on the fridge?" she thought, grabbing a random one. She scribbled a couple of words on a post-it, walked to the living room that was opposite the kitchen, and stuck the note on Alex's TV. She flicked her hand through the air, bringing up a small floating display which revealed that it was nearly nine in the evening.

"It's late, I should get going if I want to be there on time," she thought, and finally made her way out of Alex's house, carefully closing the front door.

"See you tomorrow," she looked back at his house, still with a smile on her face. Regardless of her optimism, she was still rather anxious because of what she was about to do.

* * *

A man, wearing a dark blue tie and charcoal-colored suit, hurriedly walked into a circular office, and stood at the outer edge of the room, pausing to catch his breath. Behind the glass desk in the centre sat a woman with brown, shoulder-length hair, facing away from the entrance, and the man who quite clearly had something important to say. She was carefully observing a screen opposite her, which was displaying a map of sorts.

"What do you want?" she asked, clearly noticing that someone had entered the room, but not bothering to turn around to face them.

"Miss Ward, sorry to bother you," the man started saying, slightly stumbling over his words. "But, the city-wide data scans reveal that another person is getting suspicious about the disappearances."

"And why have you chosen to bother me with this information, Mr. Taylor?" the woman behind the desk asked, addressing the man by his last name once she realized who he was. "I think you are more than capable of handling this situation yourself."

"Yeah, I know, but–"

"But what?"

"This is the second time in the last thirteen days someone found out about what we are doing, and I thought that we might want to consider a different way of handling those who find out."

"That will not be necessary. Keep the current approach, and let them move around freely, unless they decide to act on their suspicions."

"That's just the problem, Miss," the man walked up to the map, and tapped one of the dots that was moving around on it. Upon doing that, the dot turned red, and was accompanied by the name of the person it represented, their picture, with a number next to it, as well as information about where they were headed. "She is already on her way to investigate."

"Nell Wynne, six years and a journalist," the woman read the data in front of her, as her eyes carefully tracked the dot that was hastily making its way to the edge of the city. "Well, it would appear that you have no choice."

"So, standard procedure?"

"Correct," the woman nodded. "Oh, and don't forget to check if she's given anyone else this information. If she has, you have my permission to increase the strength of the data wipe."

"Understood," the man said, then rushed out of the room and started heading back to his office. Once he walked in, he gave his colleagues an affirming nod, and they immediately began preparations.

"Aidan, you're dueling today," he said, pointing to the blonde-haired man in the corner of the room with his feet up on his desk, who looked half-asleep.

"Come on, why me?" Aidan asked, hoping that he'd somehow be able to get out of doing this, but his higher-up was having none of it.

"Because you've barely done anything in the last few weeks," he replied. "So stop complaining and make yourself useful. And knowing you, this'll be a routine victory anyways."

"Whatever you say, boss," Aidan snarked. "Just don't do what you did the last time. I don't need your help."

He got up, and walked to the exit of the room. The overly-large glass doors opened automatically once he approached them. He let out an exasperated sigh, shrugged his shoulders, and left the room.

"Should we run the assistance program?" someone asked once they were sure Aidan couldn't hear them.

"Of course," the boss replied. "Just make sure you're a bit subtler about it. We don't want him noticing that we're helping him again."

* * *

Nell was sitting on a bench across the suspicious building, waiting to see if anyone would come along, occasionally checking the time.

"It's almost midnight. Whoever is taking people away, they would've been here by now," she thought. "I must've lucked into coming on one of those days when they don't take anyone away. All the better for me."

She started sneaking towards the building, armed with the knowledge that there were no security cameras on the outside, which was something she found out while staking out the building previously. Once she entered the building, she was greeted with a well-decorated hallway. Everything in it, from the elevator doors to her left, to the pitch-black stairs to the right, was polished to a shine, and looked as if it was never touched by a human. Nell decided to take the stairs, so she wouldn't alert anyone, but she couldn't help but notice how loud her footsteps were. Once she reached the second floor, she was greeted with a lot of nothing.

"What the hell?" Nell mumbled, looking at the room in shock. This one room made up most of the building. Despite the fact that it looked like it had ten floors from the outside, all of them were merged into one big, bland white room. There was nothing on the floors, and the walls were barren, apart from the windows, which were placed in regular intervals on opposite walls, to make it seem like there's more to the building than there actually is.

"Ms. Wynne, if I'm not mistaken," a sudden voice came from behind her. Nell turned around, and was face-to-face with a blonde-haired man, who was standing in the stairwell she just came from. She stumbled a couple of steps back in surprise.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Aidan Everett. And I'll be the one asking the questions from now," the man said and snapped his fingers, upon which the staircase behind him was sealed off by a mechanical door, closing off the only possible exit from the room.

"I would ask you what you are doing here, but I think we both know," he continued. "You found out that people are going missing in this building, and decided to investigate. Am I correct?"

"Are you the one responsible for this?" Nell asked, not actually expecting to get a serious answer.

"Not me personally, no," Aidan replied. "I work for the people responsible, though."

"What are you doing to them?"

"That's hardly your business."

"It's very much my business!" Nell insisted. "You're taking people away from their friends and families!"

"If it makes you feel any better, we try our best to make everyone forget that person ever existed. And we'll do the same to you, Nell."

"How do you know my name?" Nell asked, stumbling a couple of steps back.

"I know more than just your name," Aidan walked past her, slowly heading for the centre of the room. Nell started walking back, and tried desperately to open the door that shut off the stairwell. Predictably, it wouldn't budge.

"You're stuck in here with me," the blonde man said. The smile at the corner of his lips started off subtle, but quickly developed into a full-blown grin. "I've said that seven or eight times already, but that sentence never gets old."

"You're insane," Nell said, realizing she was in over her head.

"You're not the first person to say that," Aidan laughed. "Now, I might be insane, but I'm not unreasonable. Tell me, do you duel?"

"What?"

"No need to answer that, everyone in this city knows how to duel."

"You really want to duel?"

"I think it'd be only fair if I gave you the same chance we gave everyone else. If you win, I'll let you go and you can try to make people believe your crazy conspiracy theory that there are kidnappers running amok, taking people away in the dead of night. But, if you lose, you'll become just another forgotten name, missed by no one."

They both activated the small bracelets around their wrists. The touchscreens attached to them lit up, indicating that a duel was starting. They then swiped the air from right to left, after which five cards appeared, floating in front of them.

"Now then, let's see how you'll do with your life on the line!" Aidan said.

 **Turn 1 - Nell (LP - 8000 / Hand - 5 / Field - X)**

"I've seen better," Nell thought, carefully looking through her hand, thinking about which line of plays to go for. After half a minute of consideration, she continued.

"I Normal Summon **Lumina, Starlightsworn Invoker**! (LIGHT/Spellcaster/Effect/Level 3/ATK 1000/DEF 1000)"

A tan woman, with short blonde hair, appeared on the field in a flash of light. She wore a sparkling white dress with golden highlights that went down to her knees. To contrast this, the cape around her neck was a deep blue colour, with specks of white scattered around the fabric that made the garment look like a painting of the starry sky.

"When **Lumina** is summoned, I can send the top three cards of my deck to the graveyard!" three cards appeared above Nell's head, before scattering into thousands of light particles. "Then, when it's sent from the deck to the graveyard, I can Special Summon **Wulf, Lightsworn Beast**! (LIGHT/Beast-Warrior/Effect/Level 4/ATK 2100/DEF 300)"

A white humanoid wolf leaped onto the field, armed with a golden axe in its left hand, and a set of sharp claws that were part of the armour that covered its right hand.

"Then, I activate the effect of **Lumina, Starlightsworn Invoker**! I send one card from my hand to the graveyard and shuffle one Lightsworn monster from my graveyard into the deck, in this case **Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress** ," Nell continued. "Then, I Special Summon one Starlightsworn monster from my deck with the same Level as the shuffled monster! Come forth, **Garoth, Starlightsworn Soldier**! (LIGHT/Warrior/Effect/Level 4/ATK 1850/DEF 1300)"

The blue-haired man that appeared raised his golden axe to the sky, and its marble handle glistened under the artificial lighting in the room. His armour was split in two parts, and covered his legs and shoulders, but left his muscular stomach exposed. The armour itself was a similar shade of dark blue as Lumina's cape, and had shining strips of silver connect the places where it was welded together.

"Then, when **Garoth** is summoned, I can send the top two cards of my deck to the graveyard!" Nell said, as two cards from the top of her deck were consumed by a blinding light.

"Three Lightsworn monsters, huh?" Aidan thought. "I get the feeling she's not stopping there."

"I set **Lumina** and **Wulf** in the Link Markers! Descend, exalted goddess of wisdom, and cleanse this world of the faithless heathens! Link Summon, **Minerva, Starlightsworn High Priestess**! (LIGHT/Fairy/Link/Effect/Link 2 [Markers: BL/BR]/ATK 2000)"

An angelic being appeared above the field, and spread her majestic white wings. Shining gold adorned her dark blue dress, which had a large dark orange amber on her chest that matched her hair colour. Minerva put her right arm out, and a large owl with dazzling white feathers landed on her forearm.

"Using **Minerva** 's effect, I can target one monster she points to, and send cards from the top of my deck to the graveyard equal to that monster's level! I target **Garoth** , which means I send four cards to the graveyard," Nell said, and another four cards appeared above her, only to be consumed by the light moments later.

"Next, using **Garoth** 's effect, I shuffle **Lumina, Starlightsworn Invoker** and **Raiden, Hand of the Lightsworn** from my graveyard into the deck, and draw one card!" she grabbed the top card of her deck, then let it float up into her hand on its own. "And, using **Minerva** 's second effect, I can draw a card whenever a Lightsworn monster is shuffled from my graveyard into the deck!"

"Not bad," Aidan remarked. "Not bad at all, but it'll all be for nothing in the end."

"Don't get too confident," Nell said as a face-down card appeared vertically in front of her. "I set one card, and end my turn."

 **Turn 2 - Aidan (LP - 8000 / Hand - 5 / Field - X)**

"Draw!" Aidan declared, and nodded once he scanned through the cards in his hand. "First of all, let's get rid of that pesky face-down! I activate **Cosmic Cyclone** , and pay a thousand life points to banish your Trap!"

 **Aidan:** LP 8000 » 7000

A strong wind blew towards Nell's field, annihilating Solemn Strike, which was supposed to serve as her primary defense against any oncoming threats. Aidan paused for a bit, and brought up a display of Minerva, allowing him to read the card's effect so he could plan ahead.

"She banishes when sent to the graveyard," he thought. "If that's the case, I just won't give her the opportunity to activate that effect! I summon **Apex Assault Swordsman**! (LIGHT/Thunder/Pendulum/Effect/Level 10/ATK 1300/DEF 2300)"

A huge, winged creature flew onto the field, and the dark green garments that covered most of its body fluttered in the wind. Lightning struck the ground in front of the monster as it landed, and a gleaming sword materialized after the flash of light, stuck in the charred ground. Its robust hilt was made out of dark steel, and the blade was composed out of pure emerald.

"All Apex Assault monsters can be summoned with any number of tributes, including zero," Aidan explained. "And, when **Apex Assault Swordsman** is Normal Summoned, I add **Apex Assault Sorcerer** from my deck to my hand!"

Nell brought up the display, and read the effect of the monster Aidan just added to his hand.

" **Sorcerer** gets its effect when Normal Summoned," she thought. "But he's already used his one Normal Summon for the turn, so I should be safe."

"Next, I activate **Photon Sanctuary** , which allows me to Special Summon two **Photon Tokens**! (LIGHT/Thunder/Level 4/ATK 2000/DEF 0) in defense position!" Aidan said, and a pair of bright blue glowing orbs appeared in front of him, gently bobbing up and down. "Then, I activate the Continuous Spell, **Apex Assault Strategy**!"

"So that's how he plans to get an additional Normal Summon," Nell thought, reading the card's effect. "This could be an issue."

"Using **Apex Assault Strategy** 's additional Normal Summon, I tribute **Apex Assault Swordsman** and the two **Photon Tokens** to Tribute Summon **Apex Assault Sorcerer**! (LIGHT/Thunder/Pendulum/Effect/Level 10/ATK 1000/DEF 2200)"

Another bird-like creature flew onto the field, replacing his comrade. The white-feathered sorcerer was draped in crimson cloth, and wielded a dark staff made out of pure obsidian, with a large and smooth emerald embedded on the top of it.

"All Apex Assault monsters gain ATK equal to the combined original ATK of the monsters tributed for their Tribute Summon!" Aidan said.

 **Apex Assault Sorcerer:** ATK 1000 » 6300

"Then, the unique effect of **Apex Assault Sorcerer** kicks in, dealing you five hundred damage for each tributed monster!"

Lightning started gathering around the bright green gemstone in Sorcerer's staff, and once the attack was ready, a bolt of lightning shot towards her, leaving her unable to move for a few seconds due to the shock.

 **Nell:** LP 8000 » 6500

"Next, I activate the scale 9 **Apex Assault Visionary** in my Pendulum Zone," a smaller winged creature appeared, wearing a black hood and loose-fitting robes. In the creature's left hand was a translucent orb, in the middle of which was a small shard of turquoise emerald that emitted a bright green light. The monster was floating in a pillar of light to Aidan's left. "This will raise the ATK and DEF of all Apex Assault monsters by a further three hundred!"

 **Apex Assault Sorcerer:** ATK 6300 » 6600 / DEF 2200 » 2500

"Battle!" Aidan declared. " **Apex Assault Sorcerer** , attack **Minerva, Starlightsworn High Priestess**!"

The magician raised its staff, and started getting ready to attack again, as lightning bolts gathered around it.

"He doesn't have enough to defeat me this turn, which means **Minerva** 's effect will–" Nell's train of thought was suddenly interrupted as Aidan revealed he had one more card up his sleeve.

"I target **Apex Assault Sorcerer** , and activate **Rage of the Thunder Deity**!" Aidan declared. "This reduces the ATK and DEF of all your monsters by the original DEF of **Apex Assault Sorcerer**!"

 **Minerva, Starlightsworn High Priestess:** ATK 2000 » 0

 **Garoth, Starlightsworn Soldier:** ATK 1850 » 0

"End this, **Sorcerer**!" another burst of lightning shot from the gleaming emerald, this time towards the helpless goddess on Nell's field. She couldn't do anything but look on as Minerva got repeatedly shocked. The once-powerful angel collapsed to her knees and let out her last breath.

 **Nell:** LP 6500 » 0

"You never stood a chance," Aidan said. "Now then, you're coming with me."

"No, I'm no–" Nell started saying, but couldn't even finish that short sentence. With a simple clap of Aidan's hand, she lost her ability to speak, and felt her body slowly fade away. Immediately after putting her in this state, Aidan completely disappeared from the room, and was nowhere to be seen.

"What is happening?" she asked herself. Her limbs were becoming more numb by the second, and not long passed before she was completely unable to move. A minute of agony went by before she finally passed out.

As Nell's eyes opened, she found herself trapped behind glass, staring at a blank white wall. Right opposite her, painted on the wall in a bold, black font, was a number: 068.


	2. The Forgotten Girl

**Chapter 2 - The Forgotten Girl**

Laura was laying in her bed, staring at the ceiling and hoping that her pulsating migraine would go away, to no avail. Her misery was compounded by the fact that the phone on the desk opposite her bed started ringing. She grabbed the smaller of the pillows her head was resting on, and put it over her head in an attempt to make the ringing less annoying.

"This is the third time this morning," her shout, directed to whoever kept insisting on calling her, was mostly muffled by the pillow. "Just leave me alone!"

Once she realized that her attempts to smother herself weren't particularly successful in making the silencing the phone, she grabbed the pillow and threw it roughly in the direction of her desk, hoping that she'd manage to hit the damned device and make it stop ringing. She realized that this might not have been the best of ideas immediately after the pillow left her hands. This ill-fated throw also proved rather unsuccessful, much to the dismay of her desk lamp. Once she came to terms with the fact that she'd have to get out of bed, as well as the fact that the person on the other side of the phone was extremely persistent, she decided to finally get up on her feet, only to nearly fall back down again after some sudden dizziness kicked in. She glanced in the direction of the fallen lamp to make sure nothing was broken, then started walking over towards the cursed phone. Just as she was about to answer the call, the ringing finally stopped. In slight disbelief over what just happened, she glared at the device with a stare of contempt, as the bright orange glow of its screen decreased in intensity, before turning off completely.

"You're dead to me," she told the inanimate object, and then decided to leave the room. Immediately after opening the door, she was overwhelmed by a sudden, uncontrollable urge to sneeze, which culminated in her nearly falling over again and having to prop herself up against the railing to regain her balance. Once that brief adventure was finished, she headed down the hallway, towards the bathroom. After managing to open the door without tripping over herself, she was faced with a mirror. Even her own reflection seemed to pity her. The first thing that caught her eye was her scruffy, unkempt, dark blonde hair, that couldn't decide which direction it wanted to go in. She winced a bit at the sight of it, then a bit more once she noticed how stupid she looked in the mirror, what with a shirt that seemed two sizes too big and the lack of pants. She grabbed a toothbrush from the yellow cup it was in, and started brushing her teeth. It didn't take long for her to realize she forgot to apply any toothpaste, but as soon as she went to grab the tube, the phone in the bedroom started ringing again. She casually strolled over back to her room and finally answered the call.

"You've missed work again," a male voice said, without so much as a greeting.

"Really? I haven't noticed," Laura replied, toothbrush still in mouth.

"You can't keep doing this! You haven't come to work all week!"

"What, do you want me to come to work and make you all–" Laura moved the phone away from her mouth for a moment in order to not ruin the other person's hearing with the sounds of her deathly coughs. She decided to not finish the sentence she started, almost in protest of her sickness. The person on the other side of the phone silently conceded that she might have a point, and changed the topic.

"I hope you haven't been procrastinating, though," her colleague continued. "Five days should've given you loads of time for research."

"No procrastinating here," Laura glanced at the pile of papers on her desk. "Everything is going smoothly."

"I can't tell if you're being serious," the man responded in a drab monotone.

"I don't really feel like doing much," Laura replied. "I've done a bit of work, but for the most part, Nell was happy to do more work on our story while I'm sick, and I promised her that I'd make it up–"

"What are you talking about?"

"Huh?"

"I thought this story was all yours."

"No, it wasn't," Laura replied in a somewhat condescending voice, as if she was explaining something blatantly obvious. "It wasn't even my idea. Nell was the one to take it up, and I just decided to help–"

"Who is Nell?" her colleague asked. "Are you working with someone from another paper?"

"Are you messing with me?" Laura asked.

"I swear I'm not," the man insisted. "I have no idea who you're talking about."

"I mean, I know she didn't like you a whole lot, but surely you haven't forgotten–" Laura's speech slowed down as she approached the end of that sentence. Her eyes widened, and a cold sweat washed over her as she came to a sudden realization. The man on the other side of the speaker attempted to continue the conversation, but his words faded into the background.

"I'll call you later," Laura mumbled into the phone, and hung up, despite her colleague's protests. She stood next to her desk in silence, blankly staring at her reflection in the bedside window as dark clouds gathered outside.

"Shit," she muttered. "Why is she so stubborn? Why does she _always_ rush in without thinking!?"

Still holding out hope that this was a practical joke, she turned on her computer. After briefly going back to the bathroom to put back the toothbrush, so she wouldn't keep aimlessly walking around with it. After the PC booted up, she immediately attempted to find some of Nell's past articles, only to realize that most of them are missing, and the ones that she could find were credited to somebody else.

"Why has she done this? Why couldn't she just be patient?" Laura thought. "Every time she stumbles upon something interesting, she just rushes in there like a headless chicken!"

She briefly stopped ranting, and took a deep breath to relax.

"Nell, you idiot," Laura said, now slightly calmer. "You just had to get yourself into this mess. And now I've got to get you out of it."

She sat down at her desk, and started looking over the notes she already gathered regarding this incident. She made particular note of the location of the building where everyone disappeared, likely including Nell. Unlike her friend, Laura wasn't immediately go there without thinking. She started thinking about other people who might also remember her, but the list of names wasn't too long.

"Wait, wasn't there someone…" she thought, and immediately started listing through all the papers on her desk in an attempt to find one specific post-it note. Once she found it, she let out a barely audible squeal of excitement.

"Here it is!" she exclaimed, and triumphantly waved the small pink paper around, but her mood instantly worsened once she realized she'll probably have to leave the house in not too long. "Guess I better put on some pants."

* * *

Alexander woke up later than usual, although it didn't really matter, given that he didn't have anywhere to be. Regardless, he wasn't a fan of procrastinating, so he immediately got up, and went to start his morning ritual. As soon as he exited his room, he came to a vague, non-descript realization. It was like his brain was trying to remember something, but it had no idea where to find those memories. Whatever caused this strange feeling also caused him to feel incredibly dizzy.

"What the hell was I doing yesterday evening?" he asked himself, but that question only ended up confusing him more, as most of yesterday seemed like a blur to him. He decided to ignore the feeling and walk towards the bathroom, but subconsciously his brain was still working on filling in the gaps.

After Alex got out of the shower, and loosely threw on some clothes, he headed downstairs to get breakfast. He descended the stairs carefully, since he was still somewhat dizzy. Once he safely reached the bottom floor, he turned a half-circle to the right, and looked through what little food he had left in the fridge. It was a fruitless effort, and he closed the fridge door. He felt disappointed that there was nothing to eat, though he only had himself to blame for that. For lack of a better option, he grabbed a couple of tangerines from the bowl on the counter. He slowly made his way out of the kitchen, peeling the citrus in the process.

"TV on," he said as he entered the living room, and the large black slab on his wall complied. He threw himself onto the dark grey couch opposite the television, and looked at the countdown that signalled the mid-day news broadcast was about to start.

"Did I really sleep for that long?" he asked himself while chewing on a slice of tangerine, which turned out to be far sourer than he expected. As the clock on the TV hit noon, the newscaster's face appeared, although something seemed wrong. There was a small square covering the woman's left eye.

"I really am losing my mind," he thought. "How didn't I notice that before?"

He got up off the couch, and went to pick up the note. Written on it were two words: _Remember me._

"Remember what?" he asked himself, noticing the handwriting was way too tidy to be his own. He couldn't make out the signature below the cryptic sentence, and stared at it for a few seconds before something in his brain finally clicked.

"Oh my god, Nell!" he exclaimed. "How could I forget?"

Despite this realization, his recollection of last night's events was still mostly incomplete. He didn't have much time to piece back the puzzle though, as the phone behind him started ringing. He turned off the TV, and went to answer the call.

"Is this Alexander Maurer?" a female voice greeted him as soon as he picked up the phone.

"It is," Alex replied after initial hesitation. "And who am I speaking to?"

"Laura Hathaway, I'm a colleague–" Laura's sentence was interrupted by another coughing fit. "A colleague and friend of Nell's, and I was hoping that you might–"

"You can remember her?" Alex blurted out.

"Oh, thank god," Laura replied. "I was hoping that I wasn't the only one."

"So, what happened to her?"

"This is not something I really want to discuss over the phone," Laura said. "I was hoping that we might be able to meet in person, but if you don't want to do it that's perfectly fine."

"I'd be alright with it," Alex said.

"Great! I'll send you the time and location now," Laura said before hanging up. Moments after, a map opened on Alex's phone showing him where and when they were supposed to meet, and roughly how long it'd take him to get there.

"What am I doing?" he questioned his choice immediately after. "Nell's just disappeared, and I just agreed to go meet a complete stranger."

He glanced at the map again to check exactly where they were meeting.

"Granted, it is in a very public place," he thought. "And I need more information about her disappearance, so it's probably best if I just go."

* * *

Alexander was walking towards where he was supposed to meet Laura. The street itself was fairly crowded, as a fair few people were out on their lunch break, which meant that she would have a hard time getting away with doing anything suspicious, and getting away with it, in case that really was her intention. He arrived at the café that Laura designated as the meeting place, and headed towards the corner of the veranda, where she was supposed to be sitting.

"Alexander, right?" she asked after she heard him approach the table.

"Yeah," Alex sat down opposite Laura, and waited for her to stop looking at her phone.

"Sorry, I was just mailing my boss to let him know I'm extending my sick leave," Laura said as she put the phone back into her pocket. "Probably should've done it sooner, to be honest."

As soon as she lifted her head up and looked at Alex, he was caught off-guard by one specific detail. Her right iris was a hazel colour, while the left was a vibrant blue.

"So you noticed, huh?" she asked, interrupting the awkward silence.

"Sorry for staring, I just–" Alex replied.

"It's fine," Laura replied. "It's the first thing most people notice. I've gotten used to it at this point. At least it's something that people remember about me."

Alex composed himself as Laura reached into her bag and took out a folder with a couple of papers in it.

"I thought you might not believe me, so I brought along some notes that she left me," she handed the papers over to Alex. "It's her handwriting, if that means anything to you. It might not be entirely convincing, but it's the best I got. Any photos I had of her, and anything digital in general, is completely gone."

Alex took Nell's note out of his pocket, and compared the handwriting on it with the scribbles on the paper. The two seemed to match, at least to the naked eye.

"What are these notes for?" he asked, and gave the papers back to Laura.

"I was helping her investigate disappearances from all over the city," she replied, and Alex immediately started putting the puzzle back together, as he slowly began remembering the events of last night. "Unfortunately, it seems she might've been too eager to find out what's going on."

"Yeah, she came to talk to me last night, and mentioned that she wanted to investigate further into the matter."

"And you didn't try to stop her?" Laura asked.

"Come on, you worked with her. You should know how hardheaded she is," Alex answered. "Any attempt to change her mind would've been completely futile, and you know it."

"Yeah, I know," Laura said. "I just thought that, maybe, since you're her best friend, that you might've been able to persuade her otherwise."

"Not a chance," Alex shrugged. "Hold on, how did you know we were friends? And as a matter of fact, why did you have my number?"

"As soon as I realized what happened to her, I tried coming up with a list of people Nell knew who might remember her," Laura started explaining. "And I remembered that she once mentioned you, and gave me your number, in case I needed your help with a piece I was writing. I ended up never finishing it, which is why you never heard from me."

"Really now?" Alex seemed somewhat surprised. "What could I possibly have helped you with? What was the story on?"

"Graduate unemployment."

"Oh," Alex frowned, and immediately changed the topic back to the reason behind their meeting. "So, are you positive she's been taken away?"

"Almost certain," Laura said. "I asked a couple more people at work about it, and the fact that nobody remembers her is the most obvious way to tell that whoever is behind the other disappearances also took her away. The only exception to how these usually go is that they didn't seek her out, but she went to them of her own volition. But for all we know, that could've been the case with some of the previous victims as well. It's hard to know when you're investigating someone who, for all intents and purposes, doesn't exist anymore."

"And how far did you get with your investigation?"

"Not very. We tied the disappearances to one specific building, which she went to yesterday, but other than that, we had next to nothing. It was impossible to see the faces of the kidnappers without them noticing. We made note of the fact that most of the victims didn't have academic degrees, but their professions were way too over the place to make out any patterns," Laura briefly paused, as she noticed a waiter walking towards her. He placed a cup of tea on the table in front of her, and she promptly thanked him.

"Anything for you, sir?"

"A glass of water will do me just fine," Alex replied to the waiter's question, and waited until they walked away from the table. "Anyways, continue."

"Their social status didn't matter at all either, as one of the first victims was a millionaire, which only made the fact that they managed to cover everything up even more surprising. Overall, there seemed to be no pattern to how these people got chosen, or at least none that we could find. Keep in mind that, because traces of these people were hard to find, we still don't have a complete list of everyone who went missing, and probably never will."

"So, what's our next step?" Alex asked, as the waiter once again came along, this time with a glass of water.

"I have no idea," Laura replied. "I haven't really had time to think about that in detail. One thing I know for sure, though, is that we will have to be a hell of a lot more careful than she was."

She stared at the dark clouds overhead, as the first drops of rain were starting to fall. She quickly finished the rest of her tea, and left just enough money on the table to pay for it.

"I've got to go," she said. "Don't want to get caught out by the rain."

Alex offered to shake her hand as they both got up, but Laura decided against it.

"I wouldn't recommend that," she said. "Unless you really want to get sick."

They both walked to the exit of the veranda, where their paths split.

"We'll keep in touch," Laura said before she rushed off. Given that he wasn't in a particular rush, Alex watched her walk away, then started heading home himself.

* * *

"I already told you that a change in approach isn't necessary, Mr. Taylor," the woman behind the desk said. "Besides, I thought I instructed you to increase the strength of the data wipe."

"You did, ma'am, and we did exactly that."

"So how do two people still remember her after last night?"

"Both of them had a deep-seated emotional connection to her, so they weren't affected nearly as much as others," he replied. "This has been a noticeable flaw for a while now, which is why I wanted to suggest–"

"No," the boss cut him off. "I am not going to keep repeating myself. Our approach to this remains the same, unless something drastic happens."

"Understood," the man replied begrudgingly. His facial expression made it clear that he wanted to leave, but he wasn't allowed to do so quite yet.

"I had one more thing I need to discuss with you," the woman said, still not averting her eyes from the map in front of her.

"Which is?"

"Why did you send Everett to duel yesterday?"

"Because we're paying him, and he really hasn't done enough recently to justify–"

"We're paying him because the Emperor sent him here!" she interrupted him once more. "He was tolerable at first, but now he's become a liability. You cannot allow him to duel anymore."

"Understood."

The woman behind the desk waved her hand through the air, which made the door behind her slide open.

"You're dismissed."


	3. Sanguine Shadows

**Chapter 3 - Sanguine Shadows**

 _Lhr ycfgc-wpgkhd kzic uz bui atphfesd fykyb,_

"Don't worry, I'll get you out of there."

Alexander suddenly woke up in the dead of night to the sound of Nell's voice. He jumped out of bed and looked around his pitch-black bedroom, only to reaffirm that nobody was there. He then rushed out into the hallway, nearly tripping over himself, desperately hoping that he would see her somewhere, but to no avail.

"Hearing voices in the middle of the night," Alex mumbled. "I'm starting to lose it."

He waved his hand through the air to bring up the clock.

"Good god, it's four in the morning," he said, then slowly walked back into the room and leapt to the comfort of his warm bed. He pulled the blanket over himself, and rolled around for a bit until he found a position he was comfortable in. Just as his head started sinking into the pillow, a strange buzzing noise came from downstairs. He ignored the sound at first, thinking that it either came from outside or his head, but realized that the situation was serious once he heard faint footsteps from the bottom floor. Someone was definitely in his house, and was trying to make no noise without much success. Alex carefully got out of his bed, actually succeeding in staying quiet. He crawled towards the door, which he left slightly ajar, to try and see what's happening. Since he couldn't make out who the silhouette was or what they were doing, he was tempted to open the door a bit more. Just as his hand started moving, his sanity somehow prevailed and stopped him from doing it, out of fear that he might be heard.

"I know you can see me," a distinctly male voice came from downstairs.

"Damn it," Alex thought, and prepared himself for the worst.

"I was hoping to go unnoticed, but you had to wake up in the middle of the night for no reason," the man continued. "No rest for the wicked, I guess."

"What are you–"

"Do not interrupt me," the man demanded. "I came here to give you a warning, and now that you're awake, I can say it to your face."

"A warning?"

"Don't go looking for that friend of yours, for your own sake."

"Nell?" Alex asked. "What do you know about her?"

"More than you deserve to know," the man replied. "Regardless–"

"More than I deserve to know?" Alex sounded much angrier, and barely stopped himself from walking out of the room to confront the mystery man. "What the hell are you talking about? She's my–"

" _Do not interrupt me, scum,_ " the man screamed, and Alex could hear his voice crack slightly. "She should've been forgotten, and I recommend you stop searching for her if you don't want to suffer the same fate that she did."

Just as Alex got up on his feet, and decided to leave his room, the man started heading for the door. Before he walked out, he said one more thing.

"Oh, and I paid a visit to your friend Laura earlier, and she was even more stubborn then you," he said. "Another piece of advice, though. Watch out for her. She's not as innocent as she might seem at first. I wouldn't blindly trust her if I were you."

"As if I have a reason to believe you."

"You're so naïve," the man laughed, and walked out the house without saying anything else. Before the door was even fully closed, Alex rushed down the stairs. Guided by blind rage, and without a clear goal in mind, he reopened his front door and decided he wants to confront the man, only to find that he seemingly vanished into thin air.

"I literally just saw him walk out," he thought. "Where's he gone?"

Defeated, Alex walked back in to his house. Despite the fact that he was immensely tired, he felt too uneasy to even consider going back to bed. Unsure of what to do, he decided to call Laura, figuring that she'd also be awake right now if the man wasn't lying about visiting her. She picked up the phone surprisingly quickly.

"I thought you might be awake," Alex said.

"You thought right, and I presume he visited you too since I can't think of any other reason why you'd be calling me at five in the morning."

"So, who was that guy?"

"No idea, I couldn't make out his face. And even if I could, I doubt I'd recognize him," Laura replied. "I presume he went through the same spiel with you as he did with me."

"He threatened me, and told me that I should give up on searching for Nell," Alex said.

"And are you going to?"

"Of course not."

A brief pause followed as Laura flicked through some of the papers on her desk.

"Oh yeah, one more thing," she said after finding what she wanted. "I'm about to head to sleep, but I was thinking of visiting you at some point later today, if that's okay with you."

"Should be fine, but I'll call you if anything comes up."

"Right, see you later then," Laura said, then hung up, leaving Alex alone in the silence of his living room.

"Should I tell Laura that he warned me about her?" Alex thought. "I mean, I have no reasons to distrust her, right?"

Alex waddled over to the couch in front of his TV, but changed his mind and decided he wasn't going to sit down, before continuing to wander aimlessly around his home.

"I mean, she claims they were friends, but Nell never mentioned her…" he said, then shook his head. "I should stop thinking about what he said, the bastard's clearly just trying to get into my head."

* * *

 **Two hours later**

Alex woke up after someone furiously started knocking on his door. He got up, and being slightly disorientated, thought he just came out of his bedroom and that he needed to walk down the stairs, before realizing he fell asleep on the couch. Once aware of his surroundings, he went to answer the door, expecting Laura to be on the other side of it.

"I didn't think you'd wake up this early," he stuttered by the end of the sentence, as he slowly came to a realization he was talking to someone he had never seen before. A dark-haired man, roughly in his mid-twenties, was standing in front of him. He was shorter than average, and dressed a bit too formally for Alex's liking. His entire appearance gave off the impression that he was trying to sell something. Alex immediately became suspicious of the new face at his doorstep, and took a couple of steps back, halfway ready to close the door.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked, not the least bit worried about making a good first impression.

"I'm terribly sorry if I woke you up, but this is quite urgent," the man seemed almost too polite, but skipped straight to the point right after that brief introduction. "Was there a break-in earlier this morning?"

"Not as far as I'm aware of," Alex said, hoping that it wouldn't be obvious he was lying through his teeth, given how he was still half asleep.

"Really? Because I, uh…" the man stuttered, as the conversation clearly didn't go the way he intended. "We received an anonymous tip from one of your neighbours that they saw someone suspicious loitering around your house, and I just wanted to check…"

"Anonymous tip, my ass," Alex thought, "Nobody even had their lights on when I walked out."

Despite being completely disinterested in the conversation, and somewhat doubtful of the person that initiated it, Alex decided that he'd continue toying with the man, if for no other reason than to waste his time.

"So, at roughly what time did you receive this tip?" he asked.

"Around five in the morning," the man replied.

"So, you had reports of a break-in two hours ago," Alex continued. "And you waited until now to act on it?"

Completely stumped by what was just said, and unsure of what to do next, the man was left red-faced, and just stared at Alex, who barely succeeded at holding back a fiendish grin.

"You're not that good at your job, are you?" Alex continued. "You look quite young, so that'd probably explain–"

"There must've been a mistake, my apologies," the man mumbled, and rushed off as quickly as he could.

"Who was that guy?" Alex asked himself as he closed the door. "And how did he–"

"Yeah, I have no idea either," a voice came from behind his back. "Though, you really didn't need to be that rude to him."

Alex froze, and a chill ran down his spine. He immediately recognized the speaker as the person who broke into his house earlier. He started turning around to face the man, but a painful sensation surged through his neck before he even got halfway there, and he blacked out shortly after.

* * *

"Come on, pick up," Laura said, laying down on her bed. Once someone finally answered the call, it didn't turn out to be the person she was expecting.

"Haven't heard from you in a while."

"Who are–" she asked, but quickly realized who she was talking to.

"I think you should know me by now," the voice on the other side of the phone said. "After all, I paid you a lovely visit earlier today."

"Why do you have Alex's phone?"

"Well, that's very rude," the man replied. "Not even a greeting, just cutting straight to the chase."

"Answer me!"

"I don't remember you being this assertive."

"Why are you talking like you know me?"

"Look, here's the deal. I warned both of you earlier today that you should stop looking for that friend of yours. Initially I wanted to leave you alone after that, you know," the man dodged that question, and went back to the matter at hand. "But both of you refused to listen to me. Both of you! I thought, maybe if one of you is reasonable, they could convince the other, but no, both of you just had to be selfish, stubborn pricks. It really got on my nerves, and I just grew tired of playing nice with you two."

"What have you done?" Laura asked, expecting the worst.

"Don't worry, your boyfriend is fine, at least for the time being."

"He's not–"

"Let me speak," the man demanded. "If you care about his well-being, you'll come and duel me, and when I win, both of you are as good as gone. I'll send you the location info, though it's the place where I caught your friend snooping a couple of days ago, so you should be well aware of it. You have one hour."

The call ended, and Laura was left in the quiet comfort of her bedroom. She started nervously pacing back and forth, realizing that whatever decision she makes, at least one person's life will be in danger.

"What am I even supposed to do?" she thought. "I mean, I dragged Alex into this, but on the other hand, this guy's really dangerous. He broke into my apartment like it was nothing, and he easily kidnapped Alex. Despite how dangerous he is, I don't think my conscience would…"

She interrupted her train of thought to make an off-hand remark.

"Nell would kill me if I didn't go, though," Laura smiled.

She glanced over at the pile of papers on her desk, which represented weeks of work on the missing person cases. She sat down on her bed, and put her hands on her knees. She reminisced about the last time she saw Nell, which was roughly a week ago. Most of that evening was unfortunately gone from her memory, but she did distinctly remember one thing Nell told her that night.

"It annoys me to no end that you can be so lazy," she said as their hour-long argument was about to reach its end. "I thought inviting you to work with me on this project would be a good way to persuade you to finally get some work done, but I guess I was expecting too much."

She remembered how Nell was slowly became more and more furious as her rant went on, to the point that she nearly kicked over Laura's deskside chair as she got up. She couldn't leave yet, not without delving further into her thoughts.

"Help me with this project, or don't, I really do not care," Nell turned her back to Laura. "But just know that one day, someone will depend on you. They will rely on you, and you will let them down because you're too lazy to get off your sorry ass."

Nell took a deep breath, then carried on with a much more reserved tone of voice. Laura sat on her bed, quietly taking in Nell's scathing criticisms while knowing that she had no rebuttal to anything that was said about her.

"You're incredibly smart. That's why I invited you to work with me in the first place, because you have potential," she said. "But it's going to waste right now, and I cannot stand it anymore."

Nell walked most of the way out of the room, before turning around to face Laura again.

"Seriously, get your shit together," she said, then walked out the room, slamming the door behind her. Given how Laura fell ill the day after, this evening was the last time that two of them spoke face-to-face before Nell suddenly disappeared. Laura couldn't bear the possibility of this long diatribe about her shortcomings being how she and Nell parted ways. She hated the thought that these bitter words were possibly the last thing a beloved friend ever told her.

Once her mind jumped back to the present, Laura went to look through the only window in her room, and looked her own reflection in the eyes. Memories of Nell, even those she didn't remember kindly, couldn't help but bring a smile to Laura's face.

"Alex and I are both in this for her," she whispered, looking over the sunlit city as tears rolled down the face. "And I couldn't live with myself if I gave up this early."

She let her tears flow for a minute more, then gathered her thoughts. With all the motivation she needed, Laura walked out of the room, determined, yet frightened of what was about to happen.

* * *

"So you came," Laura entered the mostly empty building where Nell was taken away, and was once again greeted by the man behind the disappearance.

"Were you expecting me not to?" she asked.

"To be honest, I was expecting you to chicken out."

"Apparently you don't know me after all."

"So, do I need to repeat what happens if you lose?"

"I'd rather you wouldn't."

"Alright, then. Let's get going."

They both activated their duel disks, and five floating cards briefly appeared in front of them before disappearing.

"I'll go first, if you don't mind," Aidan said.

 **Turn 1 - Aidan (LP - 8000 / Hand - 5 / Field - X)**

"I'll start by Normal Summoning **Apex Assault Swordsman**! (LIGHT/Thunder/Pendulum/Effect/Level 10/ATK 1300/DEF 2300)"

A bird-like creature leapt onto the field, covered in dark garments. Lightning struck the ground in front of where the monster landed, and a sword appeared in the flash of light. The winged creature grabbed the sword, and pointed the gleaming emerald blade towards the ceiling.

"All Apex Assault monsters can be summoned with any number of tributes," Aidan clarified. "And when **Apex Assault Swordsman** is Normal Summoned, I can add an Apex Assault monster from my deck to my hand!"

A glowing green ring appeared around Aidan's wrist. A card came out of the top of it, which he grabbed, then added to his hand after revealing it, so Laura had ample time to read its effect.

"Next, I activate the Continuous Spell, **Apex Assault Strategy** , whose effect allows me to Normal Summon one additional Apex Assault monster every turn," Aidan continued. "And by tributing **Apex Assault Swordsman** , I Tribute Summon **Apex Assault Visionary**! (LIGHT/Thunder/Pendulum/Effect/Level 11/ATK 700/DEF 2800)"

Another avian being appeared on the field. It was covered in dense dark grey feathers, which were almost impossible to see, as the entire creature was enshrouded in white robes in such a way that only its emerald-green eyes stood out. A green circle of undecipherable writing appeared around it as it landed.

"When Tribute Summoned, Apex Assault monsters gain ATK equal to the ATK of the monsters tributes for their summon!"

 **Apex Assault Visionary:** ATK 700 » 2000

"Then, when **Visionary** is Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon an Apex Assault Pendulum Monster from my extra deck, but its effects are negated," Aidan said, and a sword-wielding warrior that left the field just moments ago, appeared kneeling by his side. Aidan set a card, and ended his turn.

"Now, let's see if she's playing what I think she's playing," he thought.

 **Turn 2 - Laura (LP - 8000 / Hand - 5 / Field - X)**

"Draw!" Laura began her turn. "I'll begin by summoning **Songmaster - Graceful Vengeance**! (EARTH/Fairy/Pendulum/Effect/Level 2/ATK 700/DEF 1600)"

A faceless, humanoid figure appeared in front of Laura, facing the ground as it knelt before her. Its body was pitch-black, incredibly smooth, and almost no light reflected off it. Its synthetic wings slowly materialized behind both of its shoulders. One silver pyramidal segment continued onto the other, and the pattern repeated. After they all appeared, each slowly gravitated towards the other until they were all almost connected, leaving small barely noticeable gaps in between all the pieces, through which light shone through. After the whole entity was assembled, a roman numeral appeared on its chest. Two parallel lines, representing the number two, shone brightly with a mesmerizing blue glow.

"When **Graceful Vengeance** is Normal or Special Summoned, I can add one Songbook card from my deck to my hand!" Laura continued. "I add **Songbook** –"

" **Scattered Rhymes** , right?" Aidan interrupted her, grinning like a maniac. He couldn't help but laugh once he noticed a genuine look of confusion on Laura's face.

"How do you–" she stumbled back, her eyes wide open in shock. Aidan's demented stare was fixed on her, as he left Laura in suspense for just a couple more moments.

"How would I not know?" Aidan posed a question, which he was immediately about to answer. "After all, I've played against you before, and there's only one card you would ever search in that situation."

"You–" Laura stumbled over her words. "I haven't seen you in my life!"

"As far as you _remember_."

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh Laura, if I told you now, that would defeat the entire purpose of this duel," Aidan sneered. "I mean, if I told you all I know right now, I don't think you'd be able to endure the shock, and that's no fun! I don't want you to fall this early, I want to take my time and _break you._ "

Laura stared at Aidan as his tirade continued, growing more terrified by the second.

"Forget never seeing Nell again, I'll make sure you never see the light of day again!"


	4. Agony in Crimson

**Chapter 4 - Agony in Crimson**

 _Gvw xiiirar nwxceoxf mmge jsvzz,_

"What's with the shocked expression? Oh, don't tell me…" Aidan gasped in fake shock. "You've forgotten all about me, haven't you?"

He started laughing, but the maniacal expression on his face quickly turned to a pained one, and his tone of voice changed into a more serious one.

"Then again, it's unfair of me to think that you'd remember me," his voice sounded entirely different from before, now that he temporarily dropped the façade of a madman. "Especially after they–"

He stopped himself before accidentally revealing something he didn't want to.

"It took me nearly a year to recover. And even after all that time, I still couldn't believe that you would…" he choked up before managing to finish the sentence, took a deep breath and continued. "Ten months of my life I spent contemplating whether or not tomorrow is worth it, because you decided to–"

"Are you trying to guilt-trip me for something I haven't done?" Laura interrupted him.

"Back then, I thought that… You know what, never mind. You never cared about me in the slightest, so why should I expect that to change now," he said. "Forget I ever said anything and carry on, we've got a duel to finish."

* * *

"Hey, are you alright?" a familiar, yet distant voice came through one ear and out the other. Alex slowly opened his eyes, unable to make out where he was. The room was pitch-black, and nobody was in Alex's field of view, making him wonder whose voice he heard just moments ago. Suddenly, a man popped into his view, with a knife in his right hand and a triumphant smile on his face. After taking a moment to process what he was seeing, his brain decided that the best course of action would be to run, though his legs hadn't received the message yet, so he ended up tripping over himself and breaking the rather flimsy chair he was sitting on. With no other options, Alex stretched his arms out and prepared for the worst.

"Wait, no, I–" the man in front of him tried to explain himself, but figured he'd get rid of the knife first, so he threw it over his shoulder to make sure it was out of reach for both of them.

"I was just freeing your hands," the man tried to cast suspicion off himself, and waved around a piece of rope in his left hand, hoping that would convince Alex.

"How do I know you weren't trying to tie me up?"

"Why would I need a knife for that?"

"I–" in all his panic, that previous sentence was all Alex could string together before his voice collapsed into a mess of undecipherable noises.

"Don't worry, I'm not with Aidan, if that's what you're worried about."

"Who?"

"The person who brought you here," the man explained. "I stopped by your house earlier since I wanted to ask you what he told you, but you pretended like you had no idea what I was talking about."

"You couldn't have been any more suspicious," Alex regained some of his composure now that he seemed to be out of harm's way. "How did you know about that in the first place?"

"I tried to sell you the story of an anonymous tip, but you were clearly too smart to buy it," he continued. "The truth is that I've been following Aidan for a while because of what he's doing. That's why I'm here in the end, because he didn't exactly make himself difficult to follow while taking you here. I just didn't want to start explaining everything to you on your doorstep. I would've explained it eventually, but you weren't quite as cooperative as I had hoped."

"I had full reason to distrust you," Alex said.

"Admittedly, there are very few ways I could've made myself appear _less_ trustworthy," the man shrugged. "Mistakes were made, the more important thing is that I'm here now, and I've already wasted too much time."

"What do you mean?"

"Turns out Aidan doesn't just have a grudge against you, but your friend Laura as well. He kidnapped you, then blackmailed her into dueling him."

"How do you know so much?" Alex said.

"That's not something you should be concerned about at the moment, not that I'd be able to answer that question in the first place," the man told Alex, making sure that he said as little as he could in as many words as he could. "You go home and get some rest, and I'll try and stop the duel if it isn't too late–"

"I'm not going anywhere," Alex cut him off. "I don't trust you nowhere near enough to leave all of this up to you."

"I don't know why I even tried to persuade you against doing this," the man got up. "Come on, then."

Alex followed him out of the room, and along the way, carefully picked up the knife the man discarded earlier in case he tried to do anything suspicious.

"I saw that," the man thought, but decided against letting Alex know that he failed at being subtle. "Carry that around if it makes you feel safe, I guess."

* * *

"I don't know him, and I've never known him," Laura told herself, but despite her conviction, Aidan succeeded in implanting the seed of doubt in her mind. "He's just trying to get into my head. Ignore him and–"

"I know exactly what you're about to play," Aidan reverted back to his usual self. "Continue with your turn already."

"I have no idea if you're mistaking me for someone or if you're just insane, but whatever it is, I had no idea who you were before you forced yourself into my life by taking away a significant part of it," Laura said. "And I'll make you pay for that."

"I'd love to see you try."

"I activate **Songbook - Scattered Rhymes** ," Laura threw the Spell into the air, where it scattered into dozens of worn out pages with words scattered on them. They fluttered towards the ground, where they became suspended in mid-air, as if time had stopped.

"When **Scattered Rhymes** is activated, I can take a Songmaster from my deck, and either place it in my Pendulum Zone, or add it to the extra deck," she continued. "I place the scale 7 **Songmaster - Darkened Ray** in my Pendulum Zone!"

Darkened Ray was similar in appearance to the other Songmaster on Laura's field: It was a faceless, vaguely human figure with a smooth body. It had no wings, and what seemed to be its legs were completely detached from its body. The left half of the monster's body was a shade of purple so dark it could pass off as black, and the right half was a glistening white, with a texture of marble but none of its imperfections. Three parallel lines appeared on its chest, shining with a bright yellow glow.

"Next, I Special Summon **Songmaster - Weeping Nightingale** (EARTH/Fairy/Pendulum/Effect/Level 5/ATK 2000/DEF 1700) from my hand by returning **Darkened Ray** to my hand!"

The dual-coloured angel disappeared off the field to make way for an even stranger creature. Its wings were similar to those of Graceful Vengeance, meaning they were composed of various small pyramidal segments, but its body was decahedral in shape, with its edges smoothened out. Its surface was incredibly smooth, dark blue in colour, and reflected almost no light. On each of the ten triangles that made up the prism, there was a shining white X.

"Then, I use the scale 1 **Songmaster - Banished Virtue** and scale 7 **Songmaster - Darkened Ray** to set the Pendulum Scales!"

The familiar purple and white angel appeared to Laura's left, and to her right was a brand new Songmaster. It was the most human-looking of all of them, though it still had no facial features except the roman numeral for seven in the middle of its head, written in thin, pitch-black letters. The monster's colours were different the further down its body you looked: the head was a bright red, which turned to burgundy around its waist, and then deep purple once you reached its feet.

"Since another Songmaster monster was summoned this turn, I activate the effect of **Songmaster - Graceful Vengeance** , and add **Songmaster - Weeping Nightingale** from my deck to my face-up extra deck" she continued. "Next, I set **Graceful Vengeance** and **Weeping Nightingale** in the Link Markers! Descend upon this earth, illuminate the shadow of lies cast upon our lives and reveal the truth concealed within! Link Summon, **Songmaster - Infinite Providence**! (EARTH/Fairy/Link/Effect/Link 2 [Markers: BL/BR]/ATK 1700)"

Infinite Providence's body was pure white in colour, as were its wings, and the entire creature shone brightly as the it slowly flew down onto the field. As it landed, a thin and barely visible split appeared straight down the middle of it. Silently and in an instant, its body split clean in half, and the two parts slowly drifted apart. A circle materialized around each half, and the two shapes connected to form the symbol for infinity. Once again, a roman numeral appeared on the monster, but the number four was split evenly among two halves of its torso.

"When **Infinite Providence** is Link Summoned, I can shuffle a Pendulum Monster from my extra deck into the deck," Laura continued. "I return one copy of **Weeping Nightingale** to my deck, then draw one card."

A see-through hologram of Weeping Nightingale appeared above the field, and immediately disintegrated into tiny particles of purple light, which rained down upon Infinite Providence.

"Next, I Pendulum Summon the Songmasters **Graceful Vengeance** and **Weeping Nightingale** from my extra deck, and **Banished Virtue** (EARTH/Fairy/Pendulum/Effect/Level 4/ATK 1700/DEF 1100) from my hand."

The strange gallery of creatures reappeared on Laura's field, with the red Banished Virtue in the middle, and Graceful Vengeance and Weeping Nightingale either side of it.

"Next, I activate the effect of **Darkened Ray** in my Pendulum Scale. Since I control another Songmaster, I can destroy one face-up Spell or Trap on the field," Laura continued. Aidan cracked a smile, knowing what was about to happen, but she carried on regardless. "I use this effect to destroy **Songbook - Scattered Rhymes**!"

The pages floating around Laura ignited suddenly, casting a warm orange light all over her.

"When it's destroyed, the second effect of **Scattered Rhymes** activates, allowing me to destroy one–"

"That's what I've been waiting for!" Aidan interrupted her. "From my hand, I activate the Counter Trap, **Rakurai**!"

"What?"

"When an effect is activated in your graveyard while I control a LIGHT monster, I can activate this card, and since I control a Thunder-Type monster, I can activate it from my hand," he continued. "I negate the activation of **Scattered Rhymes** ' effect and banish it, then I can destroy one card you control."

A bolt of lightning struck one half of Infinite Providence, and it slowly began disintegrating as the electrical current transferred to the other half. Slowly and out of sync, both halves of the white angel turned to dust.

"Wasn't exactly expecting a Trap from the hand," Laura thought, watching her monster disappear. "But I can still do something here."

"I don't know why you still think you have a chance," Aidan taunted her.

" **Banished Virtue** gains 200 ATK for each of my face-up Spells and Traps, and for each of them, **Weeping Nightingale** decreases the ATK of all your monsters by 200."

 **Songmaster - Banished Virtue:** ATK 1700 » 2100

 **Apex Assault Visionary:** ATK 2000 » 1600

" **Banished Virtue** , attack **Apex Assault Visionary**!" Laura declared.

"That's not happening either," Aidan revealed another Trap. "I activate **Apex Assault Formation** by tributing a Level 10 or higher Tribute Summoned monster. I tribute **Visionary** , and draw three cards!"

Banished Virtue ceased its attack as the target was no longer there.

"And since **Visionary** is no longer on the field, there are no monsters on my field you can attack over."

"I set one card," Laura begrudgingly moved on with her turn.

"I activate the effect of **Apex Assault Formation** in the graveyard," Aidan stopped Laura before she had a chance to end her turn. "By banishing it from the graveyard, I can Normal Summon an Apex Assault monster!"

Aidan released the sword-wielder on his field to make way for a larger threat.

"I tribute **Apex Assault Swordsman** , and Tribute Summon **Apex Assault Cannoneer**! (LIGHT/Thunder/Pendulum/Effect/Level 11/ATK 1600/DEF 2100)"

One bird-like creature was replaced with another. Cannoneer's feathers were half white and half brown, and it was shrouded in loose-fitting green robes. With both of its muscled arms, it grasped the large cannon, encased in emerald, that rested on its right shoulder.

"And don't forget, the ATK of Apex Assault monsters goes up by the original ATK of the monsters tributed for their summons."

 **Apex Assault Cannoneer:** ATK 1600 » 2900

"Then, Cannoneer's effect activates, allowing me to destroy one card for each monster I tributed for its summon," the cannon on the monster's shoulder was aimed squarely for the flying decahedron on Laura's field. The cannonball shot out at such a speed that nothing had a chance of dodging it, and it left a cloud of black smoke behind it.

"I end my turn," Laura said after being forced to watch Aidan pick her field apart before his turn even arrived.

"Out of options, are you?" he asked. "Let's finish this already."

 **Turn 3 - Aidan (LP - 8000 / Hand - 3 / Field - Monsters:** Apex Assault Cannoneer, **Spells/Traps:** Apex Assault Strategy **)**

"First, I activate the scale 12 **Apex Assault Aeromancer** in my Pendulum Zone," Aidan said, and another birdlike creature appeared behind his left shoulder. Aeromancer's feathers were light green in colour, and since it had no wings, it kept itself afloat by manipulating the air beneath it. "Its effect decreases the stats of all monsters on the field by 300, except those of Apex Assault monsters."

 **Songmaster - Banished Virtue:** ATK 2100 » 1800

 **Songmaster - Graceful Vengeance:** DEF 1600 » 1300

"Using **Aeromancer** 's Pendulum Effect, I tribute **Apex Assault Cannoneer** , then add **Apex Assault Swordsman** and **Visionary** from my extra deck to my hand!" Aidan continued, then immediately tapped one of the cards that were added to his hand to select it. "I activate the scale 9 **Apex Assault Visionary** in my Pendulum Zone, and complete the Pendulum Scales! And while it's in the Pendulum Zone, **Visionary** 's effect will increase the ATK and DEF of all Apex Assault monsters by 300!"

The densely feathered creature appeared to Aidan's right, and the robes that covered most of its body fluttered gently in the wind created by Aeromancer.

"Now, I open the gates to victory," Aidan declared, and a green, circular portal appeared above him, stretched between the two monsters in his Pendulum Zones. "From my hand, I Pendulum Summon **Apex Assault Lancer** (LIGHT/Thunder/Pendulum/Effect/Level 10/ATK 1000/DEF 2400) and **Apex Assault Thunderknight** (LIGHT/Thunder/Pendulum/Effect/Level 11/ATK 1500/DEF 2100), and from the extra deck, **Apex Assault Cannoneer**!"

The cannon-wielder appeared was the first of the three monsters to appeared, quickly followed by two similar looking creatures. Both were completely covered in white feathers and wore dark-coloured robes, though Lancer's were dark crimson, while Thunderknight's were brown, and looked as if they were made of leather. One wielded a lance with a long handle that was made entirely from emerald, while the other had a sword in its right hand, the blade of which seemed to be made out of condensed light. None of these three was going to stick around for long.

"I tribute all three of my Pendulum Summoned monsters, and Tribute Summon **Apex Assault Swordsman**!" Aidan continued. The master of the emerald blade appeared once more, after all three of its companions vanished off the field.

 **Apex Assault Swordsman:** ATK 1300 » 5700

"Now, I activate **Swordsman** 's effect! When it's Normal Summoned, I add an Apex Assault monster from my deck to my hand," Aidan said as he revealed the Sorcerer he was adding. "However, since **Swordsman** was Tribute Summoned by tributing two or more monsters, I can add an additional Apex Assault card from my deck or graveyard to my hand."

He revealed a brand-new Spell, and although Laura couldn't manage to read the card's effect before it was added to his hand, she didn't have to wait long to find out what it does.

"I activate **Apex Assault Training Grounds** by targeting **Apex Assault Swordsman** ," Aidan declared. "With this, the targeted monster's ATK increases by the difference between its original and its current ATK."

 **Apex Assault Swordsman:** ATK 5700 » 10100

"I'll give you one chance to back out of this," Aidan told Laura. "Forget that friend of yours and–"

"No," Laura cut Aidan off. "I would rather–"

"Die?" Aidan asked, and his tone of voice once again changed to be a bit calmer than usual. "Tell me, where did this resolve of yours come from? Everything I remember you trying to do, every single thing you tried to make happen, never did. You were always so content with sitting on your ass in one of your family's mansions, and doing nothing, wasting away weeks at a time."

"I have no idea who you're talking about, but–"

"Well _I_ do!" Aidan's voice quivered. "You never had the courage to step out your comfort zone, not that you had any reason to. The one time you actually took a risk, you ruined my life. And now, all of a sudden, you're strutting around like you'd be willing to die for–"

"I would," Laura interrupted Aidan once again. "Not that you would understand why."

"What makes you say that?"

"I don't know if you're mistaking me for someone or if you've just made up this ridiculous story in your head, but I've never met you before," Laura carried on. "You've said many things about me, a lot of which are true, but from the short time I've unfortunately had to spend with you, I can say with certainty that you're not much different. I can say that you haven't met anyone who makes taking a risk worthwhile. Nobody you care about enough so much that you'd be willing to die for them. And that's exactly why–"

" **Apex Assault Swordsman** , attack **Songmaster - Banished Virtue**!" Aidan declared.

"Oh, have I struck a nerve?" Laura smiled in spite of what was about to come her way.

"I've had enough of your drivel," Aidan said as his winged monster took to the sky, and prepared to launch an attack. "Let's test this resolve of yours."

"Yes, let's," Laura said, fully aware that this duel was over if this attack goes through. "I activate **Songbook - Great Desire** , and use its effect to Special Summon **Songmaster - Weeping Nightingale** from my extra deck!"

The purple winged prism appeared on Laura's field right before Swordsman started plummeting towards her.

" **Great Desire** gives all Fairy monsters I control 200 ATK, and since there is another face-up Spell or Trap on my field, **Banished Virtue** gains an additional 200 ATK," Laura continued. "Then, because of **Weeping Nightingale** 's effect, all monsters you control lose 200 ATK for each face-up Spell and Trap I control."

 **Songmaster - Banished Virtue:** ATK 1800 » 2200

 **Apex Assault Swordsman:** ATK 10100 » 9500

Despite managing to reduce the damage she would take, Laura's efforts turned out to be in vain. The sword wielder descended upon her monsters with great speed, slicing the red and purple fairy clean in half, then embedding its sword deep into the ground in front of Laura, causing a shockwave strong enough to catapult her towards the other end of the room, showering her with debris, as well as discarded pieces of its emerald blade, in the process.

 **Laura:** LP 8000 » 700

As the monster, now bereft of its blade, returned to its owner, he started slowly walking towards Laura, who was left unconscious by the impact. He knelt next to her, lifted her chin up from the dust it was lying in, and took a look at her face. Blood was pouring down from the cut next to her eye, and streaming down her cheek and onto the floor.

"That could've taken your eye out, you idiot," he said, and opened her eyes to see them one more time. He stared into her glazed eyes for a couple moments before putting her head down, filled with regret because of what he was about to do. As he got back on his feet, someone entered the room and started running towards him. Whatever sanity Aidan had left just dissipated, and his tunnel vision drowned out the sounds of the incoming footsteps.

He raised his foot above Laura's head without a hint of hesitation, but before he had a chance to do anything, something stopped him. A sudden rush of pain surged through his entire body, and he felt a warm liquid soak the back of his shirt. He stood there expressionless for a few seconds before realizing that there was a knife in his back. He turned around to face the culprit, and saw Alex, who seemed remarkably shocked at what he had just done, as well as the mystery man standing further behind.

"I guess some things never change," Aidan mumbled, then reached behind himself to take the knife out of his back. Instead of trying to retaliate, he tossed it aside, leaving a thin red line across the floor as blood trickled down from the blade.

"Once a murderer…" Aidan gurgled, but collapsed onto the floor before he managed to finish the sentence.

"What have I–" Alex started saying, but panic overtook him before he could finish the sentence.

"The knife isn't big enough to go through anything vital," the man behind him said. "Just make sure Laura's alright, and I'll take care of him."

Alex grabbed her lifeless body, and stormed out of the room, choosing to trust the man despite barely knowing him, not wanting to know what "taking care of him" implied. Much to Alex's surprise, he left the room just moments after him.

"What have you done?" he asked.

"Not something you should be worried about, though he's definitely alive if you were worried that was going to be keeping you awake at night" the man replied. "Now come on, let's get her to safety."


	5. The Sound of Rain

**Note:** I don't usually do these, but it's been so long since I've last published something that I just felt the need to apologize for how long this took. I was both demotivated and too busy, but I will do my absolute damndest to make sure a gap this long doesn't happen again. That being said, on with the chapter.

* * *

 **Chapter 5 - The Sound of Rain**

 _hpuzx fwyk acxwhfm vy ew ypervpk ltr aabar_

Lightning struck in front of the mansion, and the deafening sound it left in its wake echoed throughout the room. Another sudden flash illuminated the sky as Laura looked past the rain-soaked window, and into the lake in front of the house. The wind was picking up, and kicked up waves as the flashes of lightning reflected off the shimmering water. A pitch-black car pulled in next to the pier opposite Laura's room, kicking up gravel as it did so. The driver got out first, slowly walked around the front of the car, and opened the other door. A man walked out of the car, but his face was obscured by the umbrella he immediately opened to shield him from the downpour. Judging by the sophisticated clothes he was wearing, Laura could immediately tell his reason for being here. One of the servants walked out into the pouring rain and invited the two men standing outside to come into the house. One of them looked up towards the window where she was standing, but she ignored him, and continued staring into the distance. The phone on the marble night stand behind her started ringing, and she let it go on for around half a minute before finally picking up.

"How come you're up this early?" the voice on the other side asked.

"What's with that question?" Laura said. "Why would you call if you didn't think I was awake?"

A brief pause followed, and the sound of thunder echoed through the garden yet again.

"So, how are things going over–"

"Imogen," Laura interrupted her. "What's going on over there?"

Silence took over the call again, and Laura never received a reply.

"I'm not hanging up until you tell me what's bothering–"

"They took him away!" a sudden burst of emotion came through the speaker.

"What?"

"They just barged in here in the middle of the night and took him away!"

"Who are you talking about?"

Imogen's reply was made unintelligible by a knock on the door of Laura's bedroom. One of her servants was waiting outside, and until now was patient in waiting for the call to end, but obviously grew tired of just standing around.

"Miss, everyone is waiting for–"

"Go away!" Laura interrupted him.

"I was instructed to tell you to come down and meet–"

"You're not very good at following orders, are you?"

"Your father's orders supersede yours, Miss."

"I'll supersede your life in a minute!" Laura shouted. "Just go away!"

Exasperated, the servant let out an almost inaudible sigh, but did give up in the end, and Laura heard him walk away, as each of his footsteps got more and more distant.

"Sorry, had someone to deal with," Laura said. "Carry on, I'm all ears."

"Sorry, I..." Imogen mumbled. "It sounds like you've got problems of your own to deal with, and I wouldn't want to bother you."

"If you were bothering me, I wouldn't have asked about it in the first place," Laura continued. "So keep talking, or I'll come over there and make you say it."

Imogen took a deep breath, muttered a barely audible goodbye, and hung up despite Laura's quasi-threat.

"You thought I was kidding about coming over there?" Laura threw her phone onto the bed in frustration, and rushed into her walk-in closet, picking out clothes effectively at random, not caring in the slightest about making herself look presentable. She tried running out of the room, but a tall, lanky, black-haired man was blocking her path.

"I trust you'll be joining us soon, Miss," he said.

"I don't have time for this," Laura barged past him and ran into the hallway.

"Where exactly do you think you're going?" he turned around and asked. "I might be your personal servant, but I'm still your father's representative in this house."

"And exactly what is that supposed to mean?"

"It is my duty to ensure that your father's wishes are complied with," he answered.

"Try and stop me, then," Laura said.

"I will not."

"I know you won't, because you can't," she continued. "Because words are all you have. You were hoping that you'd be able to prevent me from leaving just by invoking my father's authority, as if you've forgotten who I am. Keep wasting my time, and I'll do everything in my power to have you removed from your position as soon as possible."

"My apologies, Miss," the man, aware that everything she said was entirely true, begrudgingly bowed before her, but Laura left before he reached the end of the sentence.

"I care very little for your apologies," she stormed off. "You should be well aware of that by now."

"You know I am obligated to inform your father of this?"

"I'm well aware," Laura waved her hand, as if to dismiss his comment. She rushed down the mansion's labyrinthine hallways, the sound of her footsteps being muffled by the carpeted floors. She took the longer route towards the lakeside exit, skirting around the guest room in an attempt to avoid whoever was waiting for her there, but to no avail. She stumbled into a tall, blonde man, wearing what resembled a military uniform, who was being tailed by a member of staff.

"I can only apologize for her lateness," the latter said just before she noticed Laura rushing by them. It took her a few moments to process that the person they were looking for just ran past.

"Hold on, Miss!" she turned around, and Laura promptly ignored her. "Sir Everett is here to–"

"I know why he's here," Laura said. "And I don't have the time or the willpower to deal with that right now."

"Wait a second–"

"Let her be," the man said, already starting to walk in the opposite direction. "She clearly has bigger things on her mind right now."

"But you've come all this way…"

"My family has business in Groningen over the next few days," he explained. "That's only a couple hours away from here, so I'm in no rush."

"If you say so, Sir."

Leaving the two of them behind, Laura walked out into the pouring rain. After carefully descending the slippery stairs, she set foot on the gravel driveway. Slowly but surely, her walking turned to running, and the driveway turned to an empty road. The rain just kept getting stronger. Her clothes were clinging to her as much as she was clinging onto the idea that she could do anything to help Imogen. Her feet were soaked, and she couldn't feel her legs anymore. After a very long ten minutes, she ran out of breath, stopped running. The mansion that she was so desperately running away from seemed so far away, and was concealed behind the wall of raindrops that surrounded her.

"Her house isn't too far away now," she mumbled, pausing for breath in between every word. "Only an hour or so left now."

She took a deep breath, and carried on walking, despite how every muscle in her body seemed to be revolting against the idea.

"Yeah, the last time we drove there, it took about an hour."

She thought about the fact that her father was soon going to be informed about how she ran away on her own, which could only turn out badly for everyone involved. Without worrying about the details, she carried on. The drops of rain were hitting the railing separating the road and the lake, and the metallic sounds produced as a result were perfectly synchronized with her heavy breathing, as she started running again. The scenery was passing her by, the lake on one side and the forest on another, with no end in sight. She was no longer even aware that she was running, and pressed on through sheer willpower, though not even that could last forever.

"Not long to go now," she remained conscious until just after her knees gave up on. In a brief second, she felt her whole body relax. Every muscle in her body gave up simultaneously, and she could do nothing but succumb to gravity. She was powerless. She looked down towards the road, and braced for the fall, but her vision went black moments before her body hit the asphalt.

* * *

The first thing she heard was the sound of raindrops bouncing against glass. After opening her eyes, Laura was blinded by the brightness of the lightbulb above her. Once her eyes accustomed to the sudden change of lighting, she found herself staring at an unfamiliar ceiling, completely unaware of her surroundings. She tried to look around, but her head immediately collapsed back onto the pillow. Before she closed her eyes again, she managed to catch a glimpse of Alex sitting next to the bed.

"Where am I?"

"First of all, are you alright?" Alex asked.

"I don't…" Laura said, getting distracted by her pulsating migraine. "…know."

"Do you need me to get you anything?"

"I'll be alright," she said. "So, what happened with Aidan?"

"That doesn't matter right now."

"It does matter," Laura yawned. "It matters a lot."

Before Alex even got a chance to reply, Laura had fallen asleep again, much to his relief. He left a bottle of water on the bedside table, and walked out of the room, leaving her alone, surrounded by the sound of rain.

"How could I possibly tell her that he tried to kill her?" he thought, slowly making his way down the stairs. "Not to mention what I did afterwards. It would probably be best if she never found out about what happened back there, but I don't think it'll be possible to skirt around that issue forever."

"Is she alright?" a voice came from the living room.

"Bit bruised up, but she's fine," Alex replied, walking into the kitchen. "Or at least she says she is."

He opened an overhead cupboard, and spent a bit too long choosing which glasses to take, despite the fact that most of them were the exact same. After deciding it's not worth his time, he picked out two at random. As the glassware was arranged a bit too close for comfort, he knocked over a third one, and it slowly started rolling towards the edge of the cupboard. Instead of trying to catch it, Alex decided to try and close the cupboard to prevent it escaping, but the glass made a run for it just as he tried to do so. At this point, Alex had already resigned himself to a future in which he'll have one less thing to drink out of, and let it fall on the marble countertop, shattering into two larger pieces, as well as scattering multiple smaller shards of green glass across the counter.

"Is everything alright in there?" the voice in the living room asked.

"Yeah, everything's alright," Alex said, all but ignoring the shattered glass around him. "I just dropped something."

He opened the tap and filled two glasses, those that were still intact, with water. He headed for the living room, and narrowly avoided stepping on a shard of glass in the process. He kicked it under the kitchen counter, figuring that it's probably not going to cause any problems there.

"I'll clean this mess up later," he thought, and walked over to the living room. "I've got a bigger mess to deal with."

He placed the taller glass in front of the man who helped him rescue Laura, whose identity still eluded him, then threw himself onto the sofa opposite him, nearly spilling water all over himself in the process.

"I brought you some water," Alex said, unsure of why he felt the need to point out the obvious.

"I see," the man was equally confused about how to reply to that.

"So, who even are you?" Alex cut straight to the chase, too tired to even attempt coming up with a different conversation starter. "Actually, let's take it from the top. Why are you here?"

"It all has to do with the incident involving Nell Wynne, who I'm sure–" the man continued talking, but the latter half of his sentence turned into a blur in Alex's head, as he attempted to process the fact that he just heard Nell's name. His brain suddenly woke up, and he started paying attention after the man finished his sentence, and stared at Alex in confusion, unsure of where to take the conversation from here.

"Sorry, I kind of… blacked out there," Alex said. "What were you saying?"

"Long story short, it was Aidan who defeated Nell that night, although I'm unsure of why it happened," he repeated. "Since then, I've been keeping an eye on him."

"Is that how you found Laura and me?"

"Yeah. I knew Aidan visited you that night, and I wanted to check why, but neither one of you have been particularly helpful," he continued. "Though, in hindsight, you probably couldn't have been a huge help anyways, because even I have no idea what he has against the two of you."

"The fact that we were trying to investigate Nell's disappearance, probably," Alex said.

"That might be part of it, but there's probably something else that neither of us are aware of."

"I mean, Laura dueled him," Alex said. "She might know something we don't."

"You can ask her once she gets up, but I have to leave soon," the man got up. "I've got someplace to be."

Alex noticed both of them left their water untouched, making him wonder why he even bothered going through the charade in the kitchen in the first place.

"A few more questions, though," Alex said. "How much do you know about Aidan?"

"Too much, if I'm being honest."

"And how much of it are you willing to share?"

"As much as I'd like you two to be more clued in as to what's going on, I'm afraid that telling you anything would drastically worsen my position. I'm sorry I'm being so vague, but I really can't tell you much more."

"Any particular reason why?"

"Even that would be giving you too much information," the man said. "But trust me, it won't be too long now until I can share everything I know with you. It's just that the time's not right yet."

"So, I'll be seeing you again, I presume?"

"I don't know exactly when, but I can promise that you will," he replied. "For now, I'll try to keep an eye on Aidan as best I can, but I recommend that you be wary of him."

"Don't worry, you don't need to tell me twice," Alex got up to escort his guest to the front door. "One more thing I'm interested in, though."

"Yeah?"

"What's your name?" Alex asked as he opened the door. The man seemed surprised that this question hadn't come up earlier.

"Fionn," he answered. "Fionn Taylor."

"I'll see you around, then."

Fionn nodded in response. Alex waited until he left his front yard, then closed the door, and retreated back into the living room. The countertop filled with broken glass had already escaped Alex's mind. He threw himself at the couch opposite the TV, and fell asleep in the exact same position in which he woke up a few hours ago.

* * *

"Come on in."

A visibly exhausted man walked into his boss' cylindrical office, trying to keep himself composed. Despite the fact she was facing away from him, as she usually does, he could tell she wasn't in the best of moods.

"If I may ask why you've summoned me here, Miss–"

"Mr. Taylor, I'm sure you are aware of the incident that happened a few hours ago involving Aidan Everett, who is, mind you, supposed to be under your jurisdiction."

"I am deeply sorry," he bowed. "But you see, Mr. Everett hasn't come into work in the last two days. I tried contacting–"

"Just an apology would have been enough," she interrupted him. "I have no need for your excuses. However, as much as you should be aware of what your subordinates are doing, it would be unfair to place the entirety of the blame on you."

"Thank you, ma'am."

"Regardless, there will be certain consequences, of which you'll be duly informed when the time comes," she continued. "Luckily for us, when I contacted him earlier, he said that he wouldn't be pressing charges, though he also didn't want to explain how the incident happened. I will administer a check-up tomorrow to see if he has any lasting nerve damage, but that's unlikely. Now, unless you have something to add, you are allowed to–"

"Actually, there's a request I need to make."

"I assume it's to do with Everett."

The man nodded.

"Look, I know he's a liability, but..." she paused for a short time, trying to think of what she was even able to do. "Alright, I'll see what I can do, but you have to understand that it's going to be difficult to get rid of him because of his connections. The best I can do for now is to suspend him for a few days on the grounds of unauthorised access. In the meantime, we can launch an investigation into the incident, and if we can somehow prove that what happened was a consequence of his actions, I'd probably have enough of an argument to terminate his contract."

"Shall I launch an investigation immediately, then?"

"No offense, Mr. Taylor, but I'd like for the investigation to be conducted by a neutral party."

"Understood."

"One more thing before you can leave," she continued. "All the data collected yesterday within a two-mile radius of where the incident took place is nowhere to be found. Almost eight hours' worth of information is gone. Would you happen to know anything about this?"

"No, ma'am," he replied. "In fact, this is the first I've heard of the disappearance."

"Now, I'm aware data blackouts happen on occasion, but I find this one to be too convenient to overlook."

"I presume the investigation regarding the blackout will also be handled by someone else?"

"Correct," she said. "Nothing personal, but I cannot trust you with this when you're as suspect as anyone else in this situation. Probably even more so, seeing as your level of clearance allows you to easily manipulate or delete this data if you so wish."

"True as that may be, any authorized access to the data bank leaves a trace, so–"

"You and I both know that you're an able enough programmer to erase any evidence that you may have left behind," she cut him off. "So, please refrain from trying to cast suspicion away from yourself, because if you've done anything with that, it's accomplished the exact opposite."

"Understood."

"Regardless, apart from some minor suspicions, I have no real reason to keep you in the dark about the progress of the investigation, so you'll be hearing about that in due time. And I sincerely hope your name doesn't come up at any point," she wrapped up. "You're dismissed."


End file.
